The Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Commission, Dr. Boboye Oyeyemi, has said that fines payable by traffic offenders may be increased this year, noting that the penalty stipulated by the law is rather low.

He also revealed that a total of 4,410 Nigerians lost their lives in 7,937 road crashes in 2017, while 23, 392 victims were injured.

The figures, he said, were lower than the number recorded in 2016 during which 4,527 persons died while 26,749 others sustained varying degrees of injuries.

Giving a review of the FRSC’s performance in 2017 on Monday in Abuja, Oyeyemi described the reduction in crashes and fatalities as “a success story.”

Talking about the possibility of increasing the fines payable by road traffic offenders, Oyeyemi said, “You can’t fine an offender N4,000 for using a mobile phone while driving and he would still go back and commit the same offence.

“The fines may go up this year; we would also have more mobile courts on the highways to try offenders,” he said.

The FRSC boss said that crashes involving articulated trucks, including tankers and trailers, had reduced due to the installation of speed limiters, adding that the corps had recorded 60 per cent compliance rate by truck owners.

Oyeyemi stated that the FRSC enforcement would focus on tyres and overloading, which he said constituted a problem in the northern parts of the country.

He complained about the poor quality of tyres being imported into the country, noting that he had made a presentation to the government to encourage local production of quality tyres.

He called for equipment and retraining of state traffic management agencies personnel, and lauded Lagos, Ogun, Delta and a few other states for equipping their traffic officers.

He attributed the in road accident deaths to the enlightenment programmes by the corps and the support from stakeholders, including the security services, media and the transport unions.